My experience with being perceived as “high-functioning” is so negative because it primarily comes from the sacrifices I make at the cost of my health in order to keep up with social expectations
I have to actively choose between taking care of myself and fulfilling responsibilities because I don’t have energy for both (I usually wouldn’t even call it a choice given that adult life especially isn’t the most forgiving)
Anybody else?
I have been incredibly fortunate that I have been able to mask much less the past couple years. It’s exhausting. Discovering what exactly that meant, what I was doing, and why I was doing it gave me the freedom to make more informed choices about when and where to make those sacrifices, and I chose only to do it where it was absolutely necessary.